Duodecimo XII
by ihatepigs
Summary: Chaviva is unexpectedly called to take part in Vongola's 12th succession battle. Her journey parallels that of Sawada Tsuna. Earning the respect of the Famiglia, protecting the people from new enemies...under the tutelage of Katekyo Hitman, Reborn!
1. Chapter 1

Chaviva flipped through her diary. "Today…outreach committee meeting, revising the term's agenda with the creative team...then organizing dance club camp, oh, then rehearsal for performance on the 8th…and prepare for chemistry symposium tomorrow. I'll be missing dance class for that…" Swiping her thumb across the touch screen of her phone, she swiftly entered the passcode and opened her messages, automatically turning the phone on its side as she texted her team members. Just as she pressed the send button, her mother burst into the room, wheeling a luggage.

"Pack. We're off to Italy. Dad's already flown off, and Cassidy will join us there from America." As she spoke, she flung open Chaviva's cupboard and deftly taped a packing list onto the inside of the door. Chaviva gaped for a moment.

"Wait, what? We're going to Italy? Since when? We didn't even plan for a family holiday this year…and I have meetings planned!"

Chaviva's mum turned to face her. "I know you have plans, but cancel them. Family issues take priority. Our flight leaves at 6. We need to hurry. I'll answer your questions on the plane. Toiletry bag." She tossed a sealable plastic pouch and Chaviva barely caught it. After a moment, Chaviva muttered a curse and began yanking out jeans and T-shirts, packing them in neat rolls in her luggage. As she packed, she switched on her laptop and typed a quick email to all the groups she was involved in, informing them about a family emergency that required her to leave the country, apologizing and promising to contact them from overseas. Thereafter, she packed her computer in and zipped the luggage up. In her backpack, she tossed in her phone, a light jacket, basic medication plus her collection of notebooks and stationery.

Two hours later, they arrived at the airport, rushed through immigration and were on the plane in less than half an hour. Chaviva caught her breath while the plane took off. After a period of silence, she turned to her mother, intending to demand an explanation. Before she could speak, her mother sighed and began.

"Your grandfather's brother is the 11th generation boss of the Vongola Familia, of the Mafia." Chaviva nodded slowly; she had heard that from her grandfather. "In his search for his successor, the 12th generation boss, Duodecimo, he has included you, along with the rest of his grandchildren, amongst his candidates. Thus, you and Cass are required to participate in the succession fight."

"Wait! His grandchildren? Shouldn't he choose his own grandchildren first?" Chaviva's mother sighed and shook her head.

"The grandchildren he brought up to be the candidates for succession were recently deemed unsuitable by the external advisor—and 11th boss has, grudgingly, agreed to his logic." She paused, then looked at Chaviva. "There's sure to be enmity over that, so be careful."

Chaviva pursed her lips. She'd always known about the Vongola family, but had regarded that as a distant branch of her family that would never impact her life in Japan. As the youngest child of her grandfather, a daughter, her mother had never been considered for candidacy; neither had the rest of her family. Thus, she herself would never have predicted that such a day would come. As a female, the probability was reduced even further; of the 11 Vongola bosses so far, only the 8th had been female—and she had had a tough time bringing the organization to respect her.

"There's just one issue, mum. I don't know how to fight. All I know is dancing, studying, basically living as a normal student. I can't possibly fight, especially not against those trained to be a successor!" Her mother smiled knowingly.

"That's why 11th boss has commissioned personal tutors for everyone. You were very fortunate to get who you did. He's been the Vongola's most trusted hitman for generations. He's trained up the past 3 generations of bosses, for various families in the Alliance."

Chaviva cocked an eyebrow. "Generations? How old is this guy?"

"He's a special case. Maybe one day he'll deem fit to tell you." Here, her expression softened. "I think assigning you this tutor indicates, at least a little, of the Boss' liking in you, and his belief in your potential. He's been watching all of you over the years, you know."

_That's kinda creepy. _Chaviva laughed inwardly. "Who is this tutor anyway?"

"Me. I am the Hitman Tutor, Reborn!" The high, childish voice piped up from the aisle, right beside her. She jumped in her seat and glanced wildly around, seeing no one until a black boot caught her right on the side of her head. "Ow!" She exclaimed, rubbing the spot.

"I know I'm short, no need to rub it in." She gaped at the young kid, with amazing, curled sideburns, wearing a suit and a yellow pacifier. A green lizard scampered up his arm and clambered onto the stiff brim of his fedora. His black hair thrust out in spikes at amazing angles.

"Did you just say…you were my tutor?" She stared incredulously at ths kid. No matter how she looked, she saw an average toddler, perhaps more dressed up than usual, and with a strange pet. But the prickling sensation in her skin, and the piercing look in his clear grey eyes told her otherwise.

"Yes, I'm assuming there's no problem with that. The whole _but he's a kid_ this is getting old after 3 generations, you know. Besides, you have no choice. Orders is orders." He gave a devilish grin. _Definitely no ordinary kid. _

"Reborn." Her mother unbuckled her seat belt, rose and bowed. Reborn inclined his head. _Mum never bows to anyone! Even in Japan, where it's customary. That confirms it; this guy is the real deal. _Chaviva stretched, then bent over her arm rest.

"So…when do we start?"

Reborn flashed that wicked smile of his again.

"The moment we touch down. After all, I wouldn't want to crash the plane, would you?" For the first time in many to come, Chaviva shuddered in fearful anticipation.


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't do this anymore!" Chaviva cried for the umpteenth time. After reading a report on her and taking stock of her existing skills, Reborn had decided to push her to the limit—first of all, in flexibility. Legs propped on two chairs, hips hovering a foot above the ground, Chaviva could barely take the burn in her muscles.

"It's already been five minutes!" She begged. Reborn checked a stopwatch the size of his entire hand.

"Another five more would do." Chaviva fought to lift herself up, to relieve the pain for a while. "That won't do, now." Reborn jumped onto her front leg, his weight carrying her even further down.

"Stop it!" Chaviva began to laugh hysterically, her unusual kneejerk reaction to pain. The laughter made her lose the strength to support her weight and she sagged even further.

"Ow…"she dragged out the syllable, teeth gritted in pain.

"Impressive. I think you've dropped at least fifteen centimetres since we started." Reborn smirked.

"Shut up." She muttered under her breath. "You're insane." The remark promptly earned her a kick on the side of her head, which she almost dodged. His grin widened.

"You're learning!" _Crazy bastard, _she thought for the thousandth time.

Late in the evening, Chaviva collapsed into bed, aching from training. After stretching, Reborn had made her go through her entire ballet syllabus with a specialist from Italy. Thankfully, there were no Chinese dancers in Italy at the moment so she had been saved there. Though she didn't think it would be long before Reborn flew one in. He seemed to have so many incredible people at his fingertips. _Honestly, I wonder who he really is. He harnesses the respect of everyone…_ Subsequently Reborn had personally tested the limits of her mind, taking her through every single subject she had learned at school and several additional topics. She had managed to get through relatively unscathed, but for the few careless mistakes she made he promptly blew up a hidden landmine in the room. _As a tutor, his methods are definitely…unconventional, to say the least._ She winced as the sheets brushed against a fresh burn on her forearm when she had failed to dodge one of the landmines.

_I wonder where onee-san is…has she arrived yet? Does she have a tutor as insane as mine? And I haven't seen mum since I came to this castle. _After taking her on a brief tour of the castle's massive grounds, her mother had retired to her own room. Due to her lack of directional sense, aside from the training room assigned to her, her own spacious living quarters, and the general dining room, Chaviva had absolutely no idea how to get around.

_Reborn hasn't really taught me to fight yet. I wonder what the opponents will be like…If my cousins make good fighters…_Chaviva gradually slipped into the embrace of sleep, mind filled with questions.

A/N: Please read and review! I know I'm not much of an exciting author, really. But it's my first time : be kind~ This one's rather short, the next one's coming up soon. I promise there'll be more action…soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chaviva entered the dining hall, covering a yawn when she noticed the group already seated at the table, the first people she had seen in a week. As one of them glanced up, she recognised them.

"Jada and Jaden! Cian, Cain and Inca! You guys are all here!" She rushed over to her cousins with a smile, but stopped dead in her tracks. The tension in the atmosphere which she had failed to notice at first now seemed to thicken even further. "Guys…?" Her smile faltered. Something hit her in the side with enough force to knock her to the floor. A steak knife buried itself in the wall behind her.

"Damn, I missed." Cain muttered. Cian grinned and picked up his own steak knife, snickering when Chaviva scrambled back behind a chair.

"Idiot, have more situational awareness, will you?" Reborn, who had kicked her down just in time, punched her again for good measure.

"What…why…"Still in shock, Chaviva allowed herself to be dragged out of the dining hall. Reborn pushed her down and grabbed the collar of her shirt, meeting her wide-eyed stare.

"Listen carefully, because this is the last time I will be repeating this. You are part of the succession fight. If you think this is some friendly competition, think again. The succession fight is a fight to the death. Unprepared as you are, there's already a disadvantage. But if you carry on with that naïve attitude of yours, you might as well slit your wrists right now and die." He glared at her for a few more moments, then shoved her against the wall, hopped off and strode away down the hall.

Back in her room, Chaviva set a kettle of water to boil, then flopped down on her bed and flung an arm over her eyes. _Why am I even participating in this fight? If it's merely because I'm forced to, I'd rather get killed and get it over and done with once and for all. _She scrubbed her face with her hands, feeling the papery dryness caused by the imminent winter. _Do I even want to win?_ She inhaled deeply, feeling the answer resonate in her head. _Yes. Because…because I want to live. _She shook her head. That was not the whole answer. _Why? _When she arrived at an answer, she had to laugh at its presumptuousness. _But it's true. Because I want to lead the Vongola. Because, I believe I __**can**__ lead the Vongola. Because, _and here she smiled. _Because I think the 11__th__ boss believes I can lead the Vongola. And because I'm curious about Reborn. Who is he, anyway? _

"You're such an egotist, Chav." She bolted upright at that familiar mocking tone. _Reading my mind again! _"But that's good. I'd hate it if any student of mine were to be discouraged after such a small matter. Just like that Sawada Tsunayoshi." Chaviva raised her eyebrows.

"The 10th boss? The legendary boss who fought against the Millefiore?" Reborn chuckled and nodded.

"I see you've been paying attention when I speak about Mafia history. Yes, and one of my past students. An idiot to the core, that one, freely giving out compassion even when he couldn't afford to. As naïve as you, but without the intelligence to counter it." Chaviva smiled.

"Was that a compliment?" Reborn caught her wrist and twisted her hand around her back, the awkward angle making her yelp in pain.

"That's my punishment for egotists. Now get off that bed. That water's for cup noodles, I presume. I'd like miso flavour." Chaviva groaned inwardly, then complied, not wishing to get her arm dislocated again.

"And Chav?" She paused and turned.

"Hm?"

"Hold on to that motivation." Her lips parted in a full grin.

"I will." As she rummaged in the cupboards for cup noodles, Reborn murmured under his breath.

"'Cause I believe you can lead the Vongola too."

"So what will it be today? Stamina? Flexibility? Academics?" As they walked into the training room, Chaviva linked both arms in front of her and pulled them over her head and backwards, cracking her back.

"The first round of the succession fight takes place in three days from now, I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Yeah. And you haven't even told me who my opponent is." Chaviva grumbled under her breath. _No need for you to worry about that yet. _Reborn's mouth pressed into a thin line, contemplating his student's reaction when she found out about the first round.

"As I was saying, hard-core training starts today." He flashed that signature smile of his. "Today, you will die." Leon scampered down his arm and morphed into a gun.

Chaviva gaped and stumbled backwards. "You've got to be kidding me."

Reborn scowled. "Don't tell me you've forgotten what I told you."

Realization hit her. "You're going to shoot me with the Dying Wi—" She fell back before she could finish, blood streaming from the wound in her forehead.

"Whoops, I forgot. I hope she's regretting something. This bullet's nearly obsolete; I'd forgotten there were so many conditions to its usage." Reborn smiled innocently at Chaviva. Her clothes began to rip apart, leaving her in underwear; her dying will flame blazing on her forehead. "Ah. Let's see what she was regretting…"

"REBORN! BEAT UP ASSHOLE REBORN FOR ONCE LIKE I AM GOING TO DIE!" She lunged at Reborn, screeching like a banshee, fingers extended like claws. He smirked. _It __**is**__ slightly embarrassing for me to be having a female student in underwear. Oh well, not like it's the first time I've seen such a sight._

"Not in this lifetime, Chav." Neatly sidestepping, he swung the 10-ton Leon-hammer at her head, knocking out the bullet.

"Ow…why did I even try something that crazy…"She winced, rubbing the back of her head. "Man, this is embarrassing." She curled up, covering her face with her hands. "I need clothes."

"Still conscious, I see. That's good. No time to rest then, next one." He cocked his Leon-pistol and aimed for her head.

"Heck no—"The bullet hit her in the forehead and she fell back for the second time. After some time, she got up slowly, her normally dark brown eyes now a brilliant orange. "I'm seriously going to kill you now." The orange flames on her forehead blazed purer and fiercer than before. Fire blazed from her hands, rocketing her in Reborn's direction.

"As expected of the Hyper Dying Will flame bullet." Reborn commented, leaping out of the way. Chaviva rebounded off the wall and aimed for Reborn again, one hand extended. Flipping over her head, he whacked her one more time with the Leon-hammer. She collapsed face down on the floor. "Looks like she's unconscious this time." When she stirred, he smirked.

"If I get a concussion, you're paying for my medical bills." She muttered murderously from the floor.

"Heh." Kicking her over, he propped her eyelids open with one hand while shining a Leon-torch into her eyes.

"Ow! Are you trying to blind me now, dammit?" Struggling madly, she grabbed for Reborn just as he vaulted out of the way once again.

"Once again, you're lifetimes too early to catch me. Pupils dilate properly, muscular control seems just fine. You have a hard head there, Chav." Blinking sunspots from her eyes, she cursed as a pellet hit her right on the sore spot on her head.

"What the…"She picked up the tablet. "Is this—"

"A Hyper Dying Will tablet. I want you to use it now, and go into Hyper Dying Will mode. This time, I'll give you something else to fight other than me. Something closer to your level." The contempt in his voice grated against her nerves.

"Fine." She snapped and swallowed the tablet dry.

Flames bloomed on her forehead and her irises lightened to a glowing orange. Reborn removed a miniscule remote control from his coat pocket and punched several buttons. A whirring noise sounded and a robot rolled out. Curling her right hand into a fist, she pushed the dying will flames out through her left hand, propelling her towards the robot. _I guess those videos left behind by Decimo, following Squalo's tradition works somewhat after all. _Reborn would rather die than say it, but this latest student of his was making rapid progress. As he watched the battle, however, he frowned. _She's not controlling the flames properly; too impatient to work it out. Without first working out the details, she's launching an all-out attack—which might work on such a low level machine, but not with a flame as delicate as the Sky flame. _Sure enough, in half a minute the robot caught her fist in its reinforced metal hand and returned a punch which sent her flying to the opposite side of the room. As she struggled to her feet, hunched with pain, her dying will flames flickered and died. The robot slowly crossed the room.

"Reborn. Please give me another of those tablets, quick. I swear I will beat that machine." Her breath hissed through clenched teeth. Blood trickled down her neck from a gash in her scalp where she had cut herself on the stone walls of the room. Her vision hazed in and out of focus due to the blood loss. Even from where Reborn was standing, the wound looked pretty serious.

"That's enough. Head wounds bleed heavily. Go and get that treated. I'll take you to the infirmary, since you'll probably get lost walking there." His tone light, Reborn deftly switched the robot off and sauntered across the room towards to exit.

"Are you serious? I can still fight! There's only three days left, I have to—"

"As a girl, your body's biologically more fragile than the guys I've trained before. While your pain tolerance may help you with mental focus when you are wounded, you can't deny the physical damage dealt. It's best to rest for a while, at least for the rest of the day."

Chaviva lunged to her feet, eyes hot with fury. "I don't care about differences between the male and female physique! Whoever said that females can't equal males? I'll prove it to you that I can—"

"You don't seem to understand the real reason behind your utter failure." Reborn's tone was dangerously soft, effectively cutting Chaviva short. "Get your feminine pride out of the way. Evidently you haven't learned anything from your school teachers since elementary school. The same comment from almost every single one of them, and you never improve. How many times does it take to get into that thick skull of yours? You disappoint me." Chaviva remained silent as she followed Reborn down the hallways. At the infirmary, she allowed herself to be bandaged, quietly thanked the nurse and followed Reborn back to her room. Before entering the room, she said very quietly, without turning around.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Reborn. I'm sorry I disappointed you." Immediately, she entered the room and shut the door. _Damn. Having a female student is way harder than I thought. And this one seems to have a really fragile self-esteem. And I was so worked up over her injuries that I didn't even bother to read her mind. _Muttering a curse in Italian, Reborn turned on his heel and strode down the hall, away from his all too troublesome student.

A/N: Thank you my first reader you don't know how much this means to me.

Just as a side note, running through why I made Chaviva the way she is. I thought KHR came up with a really good loser-to-coolness kinda character development, so I wondered, what would it be like if the trainee was capable, and fierce—not lacking motivation, and most of all, a woman : after all, so little was said about the 8th. So there you are. And, of course, I wanted to portray the issues of female leadership in a male-dominated society. But that will come later of course :

Okay! On towards Chapter 4~


	4. Chapter 4

Chaviva sat on the floor for a moment, fingering the thick bandage around her head. Despite a long shower and hot drink, she simply could not shake the feeling of depression that had settled around her. _What the hell. I'm just taking this too hard. _She sighed deeply. _I'm probably being oversensitive. It's just…I can't take criticism well…_

"Okay! I guess there's only one way to take this, and that's to fix myself." Pushing herself up, she walked over to her laptop and flipped it open. "Report card…If I'm not wrong, I stored all of them in this folder…" Flicking through the rows of grades and percentiles, she brought up her teachers' comments over the years. "One thing in common…" As Reborn had said, there was one common trend. _Needs to slow down…Skips over details…Takes a 'fast track' and misses important stops along the way…_

Leaning back against the chair, she mused over the comments. _Important details…how does that relate to the dying will flame? Something about the delicacy of a Sky flame…_ Dragging out the box of CDs, videos of Unidecimo and his training in his early days, under the tutelage of his father, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and of course Reborn. She watched as Unidecimo careened into a wall and Decimo rushed over in concern, only to be stopped by Reborn.

_What am I lacking…_She watched as Decimo spoke words that the camera did not pick up. The young 11th boss got up, nodded, and swallowed the pills, going into hyper dying will mode. As he released flames from his palm, flowing around a target, Decimo crossed over and grasped his small hand, rearranging the shape of his hand, murmuring instructions. The flow of the flames shifted almost imperceptibly. Instantaneously, it incinerated the target and the two behind it in quick succession. As Decimo congratulated his son, Chaviva finally came to a revelation.

_What was wrong was my control! The sky flames are tricky to control, and without the right amount of counterbalance and a specific flow of flames, it won't work. That's what I missed when I didn't take the time to understand the flames before I used them to launch an attack!_ Fired with enthusiasm, she heaved herself out of the chair and bolted out of the room. _Now to get my hands on some pills so I can practice…the next time I show Reborn, I'll be able to annihilate that bloody robot in less than a minute. _

Reborn strolled down the hall to Chaviva's quarters. She had not turned up in the dining hall for dinner, so he could either assume she was afraid of further conflict with her cousins, or avoiding him. As he heard sounds of explosions echoing down the corridor, he increased his pace. _Knowing her, she probably went straight to train, to prove me wrong. _Kicking open the door to the training room, he instinctively ducked as flames shot overhead in a fiery stream.

"Oh crap, I'm really sorry. Didn't see you open the door!" Chaviva called from the middle of the room, running over to him. Reborn smiled.

"I see you've been practicing. Let's see what you can do now." Flicking a switch on the remote control, he released the same robot she had fought previously. Focusing her dying will flames, she incinerated it with a snarl. Immediately, Reborn punched in a new code and released a group of robots at once. The machines surrounded her, and prepared to shoot bullets of compressed dying will flames. Dodging the attacks, Chaviva wove in and out and took out one with a flaming kick, punching through its control computer. It fizzled with electricity, showering sparks. The remaining robots fired another shot just as Chaviva shot into the air, rocketing after her. _Somehow, they're tracking me. _Extending her fingers, she flatted her flames out into twin shields. The shockwave as the missiles hit knocked her back a few feet, but at least she emerged relatively unscathed. _Once I get the basic control techniques down, it's pretty easy to use the flames in whatever way I wish to! _

Chaviva contemplated the situation as the remaining three robots centred in on her and prepared to fire. She needed something to block the incoming bullets, as well as destroy their weapons and prevent them from attacking. As they fired bullets, she flicked out twin tongues of flames from her hands that knocked the bullets back towards the robots. Pushing harder, the flames extended into long, flexible blades that sliced through the robot's metallic armour. Zooming towards them, she wove the blade around their necks and decapitated all three at once. Landing on the ground, she extinguished the flames and bent over to catch her breath. Reborn hid his smirk beneath the brim of his fedora. _She improves fast. _

"Good job, Chav. Your control is much better now. Don't forget today's lesson. Patience is a virtue, after all." Chaviva grinned, and made an exaggerated bow. "I'd like to know, though. That final move of yours. I'm pretty sure none of the bosses have used it before. Where did you learn that?"

"Oh, that." She looked at her hands. "I was thinking of an appropriate move when my water sleeve lessons from dance class came to mind. I ended up shaping the flames in a similar arrangement and directing them as such." She held her fingers to her face in a victory sign. "It worked!" _It worked, indeed._ Reborn was already beginning to speculate the weapons Leon would eventually regurgitate for her. After all, she was his pupil. Undoubtedly, she would get past the first few measly rounds of the battle. If she failed, and here his smile turned sinister, she would have far worse than hell to pay.

A/N: Sorry this took longer than I expected~ MY FIRST REVIEW *dances around laptop like mad Indian.* Shhhh you must not reveal the secret pairing :X but that will come much later. Don't worry, I'm nowhere near giving up so soon! : Please keep reading and reviewing :


	5. Chapter 5

Chaviva ran through the castle, searching. She spotted her target in the training room and charged over at full speed. "Reborn!" Suddenly he disappeared. The heel of his boot connected with the back of her head, knocking her to the floor.

"Sorry. When you do that, it looks like you're about to engage in unwanted physical contact." Reborn landed and levelled a cool gaze at her. "What is it, Chav." Scowling, she rubbed her head.

"The first round of the succession fight takes place tomorrow! And you haven't told me anything yet. Who's my opponent?"

"It's someone you're very familiar with…" Chaviva looked quizzically at her tutor. Behind her, the door clanged open.

"Hey, Chav. Missed me? Haven't seen you since I left for America." The cheery voice, identical to her own, rang out from behind her.

"No way. For the first round, they're having me fight…" Chaviva whispered in disbelief. "My sister?" She turned around, her expression one of shock. Cassidy smiled as if nothing was wrong and ran over to hug Chaviva. "Yes, of course I missed you. I haven't seen you for so long? Have you been in Italy all this time?"

"Yes, being trained by Marmon, the Arcobaleno of Mist. Kin to your tutor Reborn, as I can see. Hey, Chav?"

"Hmm?"

"This is the last time I'm being so nice to you. After this, we're enemies. At least for the duration of the fight." Chaviva jerked back as a sharp pain lanced through her shoulder. When she clutched at her back, her hand came away bloody.

"What the—" She backed away from her sister, noting the twin blades in her hands. Blood dripped from one of the knives in her sister's hands. Cassidy casually wiped the knife with a blood-stained cloth then sheathed her two knives at her hip, tucking the rag into her coat pocket.

"See you around. Oh, and by the way," she paused and turned with a wide smile. "Take care of that shoulder. After all, the fight's tomorrow, isn't it?" Then all that lingered was her laughter, tinged with insanity, as she left, closing the door behind her. Chaviva sank to her knees.

"Great. Just great. My one and only elder sister is out for my guts." She yelped when Reborn tugged down the back of her torn T-shirt and began to clean her wound. Spraying water from a Leon-water gun, he ignored her agonized screeching and slapped on antiseptic and gauze before bundling the whole thing up with surgical tape.

"Chav…"

"Hmm? You done already?" She stood up and rotated her shoulder gently, wincing when the wound pulled.

"Stop that. We'll go get it stitched at the infirmary now. Chav, you haven't forgotten your resolve to win, have you?" She paused on her way to the door.

"Well, I can't let her take over such a dangerous organization now, can I?" Laughing bitterly, she made her way to the infirmary. Reborn stared worriedly after her. _Besides, something's wrong. From the reports I received on Cassidy, she doesn't seem like the kind of person to do this…_

Despite her big words, Chaviva's motivation seemed to have dropped following the encounter with her sister. For the rest of the day, she lacked concentration in training. With his uncanny aiming, Reborn dropped a kick on the back of her head yet again, reminding her to concentrate. She barely summoned the energy to mumble a protest before continuing with her monotonous training. Reborn frowned. _Not good. At the rate she's going, she's not going to last the fight tomorrow with Cassidy. _

Chaviva woke with a heavy feeling of depression. She felt no desire to fight her sister, and just could not muster the energy to face the day. Feeling like an auto-programmed robot, she dragged herself to the Arena they had been designated. Battles would be taking place all over the castle that day. Reborn met her, noting her sullen face. He forced her to eat something before the battle, and then sent her to the battle without a word. Chaviva's heart sank even further. Perhaps even her tutor had lost faith in her, seeing as he could not even be bothered to watch her battle. Suddenly panic swamped her. _I can't face Cassidy alone, without even Reborn. I'm totally unprepared, emotionally and physically. I can't even remember why I want to win. But, I just don't want to die. And the way things are, Cassidy won't hesitate to kill me._

She sat alone in the large, empty chamber, skin prickling, cold sweat trickling down her back, anticipating the moment when Cassidy, Marmon and the pink-haired judging robots would arrive. When the door creaked open, her heart nearly stopped. _Why am I such a coward? _She admonished herself. Cassidy's smile was cold and foreign.

"Hello Chav. It's time."

"You have an unlimited time to battle. The rules of the battle are simple. The first to retrieve this" The robot raised two necklaces, each strung with a ring "from the other, and fix the two rings together, is the winner."

Chaviva caught the ring as it was thrown at her, and fastened it around her neck, tucking the ring into her shirt. She frowned as she recognised the design. "Is this…"

"No, it is not the real Sky Ring and contains no power. It is merely a replica symbolic of the Decimo's own struggle with the 10th boss of Varia at that time, Xanxus. Now will the competitors please step into the ring." Chaviva felt a chill as they closed the reinforced iron door of the concrete room. "Viewers, please stand behind this line. A barrier will be constructed for your safety." Marmon, the sole viewer, made a contemptuous noise.

"As if I couldn't protect myself from my student."

Chaviva stared at Cassidy. _If ever, this is the time when I truly have to shut my feelings away. I can't relent during this fight, or I'll lose immediately. _

"Let the battle begin." Cassidy immediately disappeared from view. _Wha—_Chaviva instinctively sensed Cassidy's presence behind her and ducked, earning a slash on her other shoulder mirroring the one from the previous day. She gasped as the wound burned, dropped and rolled to face her opponent. Cassidy's blades burned with dying will flames.

"Painful, isn't it? Time waits for no man, Chav, and you haven't even called out your dying will flames yet." _Shit. I forgot to take out the pills in preparation. _As Chaviva reached into her pocket for her pills, Cassidy launched herself at Chaviva with a flurry of slashes, leaving a trail of flame behind her. "No way am I gonna let you get those pills, Chav." She grinned, the flames on her forehead casting devilish shadows over her face.

"Why? Afraid you can't face me when I'm in Dying Will mode?" Chaviva spat back, one hand clutching her shoulder wound.

"Not at all. It's just, with your dying will flames, it'll make it all the harder to see your dying expression." Cassidy sent a stream of flame blades at Chaviva. _Damn. The pills are stuck! _Struggling with the box in her tight jeans pocket, Chaviva failed to dodged all the flame blades. The last blade caught her across the back, slicing open the previous day's wound and sending her sprawling on the concrete floor. The pain seared across her mind, sending all coherent thought out of her mind. _Hurts…_Chaviva gritted her teeth, trying not to cry out. She used one arm to support herself as her other hand wormed two pills out of the box in her pocket. Suddenly her head was yanked back by her ponytail. Eyes reddening from the pain, she stared straight into her sister's face. _Something's wrong with her,_ Chaviva realised somewhere in the back of her head.

"Cass…Is everything okay?" She blurted out, then realized the stupidity of showing concern to one's opponent.

"Silly Chav, of course it is! I'm just about to take my first step towards becoming Vongola's boss. Though it's not required, I think I'll kill you first, then take your ring. It's clearly my victory, and an easy one, at that." She chuckled and unsheathed one of her long daggers, igniting it with dying will flame. The heat was almost unbearable as Cassidy positioned the blade carefully at Chaviva's neck. _Come on…its almost out… The pills…_Cassidy smiled suddenly. "Too obvious!" She brought the blade down across Chaviva's hand. She yelped as blood welled and the two pills she'd finally wrestled out clattered to the floor. "It's over, little sister."

Despair filled Chaviva. _How could I have lost so easily? Reborn must have anticipated the results of the fight. He'll be so disappointed. _Then her anger burned, surprising even herself. _At least he could have come! Then maybe I might've fought harder, could've defeated Cass… _

"What kind of student gets injured thrice in the first five minutes of a battle and _forgets_ to arm herself before a battle? If you really lose, Chav, I'm going to disown you as my pupil." The familiarly annoyed child-like voice rang out. All eyes turned to the door.

"Reborn!" Relief made Chaviva giddy with joy.

"And you lost your pills too. Unbelievable. We're going to have to talk about this later. But for now…" Leon scampered down his arm. In record time, he loaded the gun and fired, the bullet passing dead centre through her head. "You haven't forgotten your resolve, have you?"

Chaviva opened brilliant orange eyes. Flames bloomed on her forehead. Her voice was steady as she spoke. "Of course not."

A/N: Sorry for the late update! Thank you for your support khr-lover123~ : I love you too :D haha I won't be updating till Christmas though, cos I'll be flying to USA! But after that I promise to return full of ideas for the battle. Look forward to it!


	6. Chapter 6

Cassidy overcame her astonishment and laughed contemptuously. "So what if the tutor has come to watch his student die. It doesn't change anything, just one more spectator to my victory."

Chaviva's lips twitched in a half-smile. "Look who's talking." Her fists caught Cassidy in the elbow and gut, causing Cassidy to lose her grip on Chaviva's hair and sink to the ground, coughing. She immediately rolled aside, narrowly avoiding Chaviva's flaming kick.

"You bitch…" She growled, then sliced viciously at Chaviva's neck. She ducked beneath the attack and feinted a punch, before clawing three bloody streaks down Cassidy's face. She laughed without humour.

"How ironic. We used to fight like this for fun when we were younger. Too bad now we're truly out for blood." Her eyes softened for a moment as she contemplated the words she had just spoken. "Cass, I don't really want to fight y—"

"Chav!" Reborn's sharp warning made her instinctively leap out of the way as Cassidy's flaming dagger whistled past. "Concentrate!"

"Yes, yes." Chaviva muttered, rolling her eyes. With a yell, she flattened her flames and flicked them out in an arc.

"What—"Cassidy had barely time to react before the flames sliced both legs and arms deeply, rendering her unable to stand or fight. Reborn smiled one of his wicked smiles.

"Well done, Chav. You've perfected that attack."

"Water sleeves, from dance class. Or, rather, flame sleeves." She kept the flames with another flick of her wrist. "I'll be taking this." She strode over and calmly melted the chain of Cassidy's necklace and took the half-ring. Unfastening her own necklace, she prepared to join the two.

"Stop…Please…" Cassidy was dragging herself over on her elbows, unable to stand. Desperate tears dripped down her cheeks. For once, she looked like herself, Chaviva thought distractedly. "If I lose, Andreas will die." _Andreas?_ Chaviva recalled her sister's boyfriend of two years. She had met him in the university in America, and after a few months of being friends, had decided to get involved with him. They shared a deep relationship, and had this succession fight not begun, Chaviva was sure a marriage would soon occur. _How…was he threatened?_ "I have to win. If not they will kill him!" Her voice rose with hysteria.

"Cass? Cass, tell me. What happened to Andreas? Who is 'them'?"

"Tsk, tsk, Cassidy. Your boyfriend's neck is on the line and here you are, taking a nap on the floor. You must really not care about him." A mocking voice echoed from nowhere in the room. Chaviva glanced around, feeling uneasy due to a sense of wrongness.

"No! No stop it! I'll win, just wait, I will!" Arms straining, red blood staining the concrete beneath her, Cassidy fought to stand.

"Aoki Cassidy." All heads turned towards the Arcobaleno. "Andreas Wegner has been rescued from an old warehouse in Southern California." Reborn projected a holographic photograph of Andreas in a hospital ward, then tucked his tiny mobile phone back into his coat pocket. "He is currently under the personal protection of Unidecimo's bodyguards, and is recuperating in Vongola's private hospital here in Italy." Cassidy's eyes widened in astonishment, then she began to weep in relief.

"Oh, you saved him. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't be ridiculous, we had him under top security and his location was never revealed to anyone—" The disembodied voice stopped abruptly. "Damn."

"Your father had you tracked, under your grandfather's orders. Give it up. You'll never become the head of Vongola." Reborn's voice, though low, carried through the large hall.

The voice's laughter, light and mocking, filled the room. "I just happened to pick the wrong sister, I'm guessing. Chaviva, how about a partnership, hmm?" Chaviva's fists clenched.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I'd sooner eat my own hand than even consider positive relations with you. Besides," She fired herself up into the air, letting her intuition lead her to the sound device projecting his voice. "I'm sick of hearing you speak." With a fiery punch, she destroyed the mini-speaker. Uniting the two half-rings, she tossed them to the judges. "Now that there's no danger to Andreas, this should do, right?"

"Well done, Chaviva. You lived up to the 11th's expectations." The robots bowed, announcing. "Your next battle will take place in two weeks. Please assemble your family by then, as it will be a team battle." _Family? _Chaviva wondered, puzzled. "We will notify you of the venue at a later date. Well then." With that statement, they left through the metal door, dissolving the barrier between spectators and competitors. Chaviva rushed over to Cassidy.

"You okay? Sorry about that. I had to win, you know. Reborn would be disappointed." She helped Cassidy up carefully, wincing as her own wounds pulled painfully. Cassidy returned a watery smile.

"Yeah, 'course I'm okay. What do you take me for? Sorry…I didn't mean all those things I said. They were forcing me…" She bit her lip, remembering the horror of living in fear of Andreas' death. "Thank God Andreas is safe." Her expression brightened. "So I'm out of this competition, and can watch as a spectator in peace now. Good luck, Chav. I'm off to live a normal life! Get those wounds treated. You have a battle in two weeks!" She winked and limped off after a disgruntled Marmon, who had just been shamed by Reborn by having her student on the losing end. Chaviva pursed her lips.

"Normal's too boring anyway." She said to no one in particular, then ran after Reborn, who was already leaving the Arena. "Hey, sensei!" Reborn did not bother to turn around, but raised an eyebrow at the new nickname. "Who's 'them' that everyone keeps talking about?"

"The grandchildren of Unidecimo, currently the candidates for heading Varia."

"Oh…"Chaviva mused over that new piece of information. "Will I get into trouble for offending them?"

"Probably, yes." His matter of fact tone definitely did not make her feel any better.

"Damn." She said with feeling. They continued walking in silence.

"The 11th will be proud," Reborn commented as they neared the infirmary.

"Only the 11th? What about you?" Chaviva questioned cheekily. She received the expected whack on the head.

"Don't even dream of it." Reborn stalked ahead of her. Her unrestrained laughter echoed down the hallway, interspersed with threats to someday kill Reborn if he continued to destroy her brain cells by the million. The threats were somewhat rendered ineffective by the amused tone of her voice.

"Of course I'm proud." Reborn remarked under his breath with a smile. "Then again, it's expected. You're _my _student after all."

A/N: Merry Christmas, one and all! HO HO HO! Back from USA! I hope this chapter was as entertaining as I found it when I was writing it : Look forward to the next update! Cya!


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, c'mere, Reborn. They've sent us the information for the next round." He hopped onto the chair, and from there leapt to her shoulder and peered at the email on the screen.

**-The battle will occur in 3 weeks. Please make the necessary preparations and bring your full family of guardians on that day. Your opponents for this round are the victors of the preliminary round previously; Inca and Eugene. We look forward to your participation.-**

Chaviva snapped the laptop shut, leaned back and yawned. "Looks like we've got longer this time. But what preparations? And what's that family of guardians?"

"6 guardians, the family of the Vongola's boss. I've already made preparations. You'll be seeing some of them around, soon." Whenever that smile made an appearance, Chaviva could say with absolute conviction that nothing good was coming her way.

"Christmas shopping? I didn't know mafia hitman tutors had Christmas shopping to do." Chaviva suppressed a smile.

"Just thought it'd be a fun experience. Besides, you've never walked the streets of Italy." Chaviva shrugged.

"Sure, I'm open to it." She quickly grabbed her valuables and a box of dying will pills and followed Reborn out the door, through the complicated maze of stone corridors and out into the mansion's front courtyard. A black car awaited them. Chaviva frowned when she noted the absence of a driver.

"Who's driving?" Reborn bared his tiny teeth in a grin.

"You, of course."

"WHAAAAT?"

Five minutes later, Chaviva was strapped into the driver's seat, Reborn perched on her lap, hyperventilating furiously as she inched their way up the driveway.

"You're crazy. I have no licence; we could get arrested for this! I've never driven before in my entire life, and I'm underage by any country's standards!" Reborn completely ignored her.

"After exiting the mansion's gates, make a left into the main road."

"Are you even listening?" Her voice rose two octaves with fear. As she turned into the main road and joined traffic, she had to swerve violently to avoid two cars, earning the honks of the irate drivers.

"Shit, shit shit shit SHIT!" She made sudden accelerations, hard brakes, and dangerous hairpin turns whenever Reborn decided to direct her only at the last moment. Eventually they pulled into a small alley with considerably lighter traffic, but a heavier, darker atmosphere. No matter where she looked, everyone seemed to carry a dangerous air about them. Plus she was pretty sure most of those black suit jackets concealed at least two or three guns.

"Reborn…weren't we supposed to go shopping?" The Arcobaleno was attempting to extricate himself from the car as fast as he could possibly manage. Evidently even he had not escaped from the experience unscathed.

"Shopping? I don't remember saying such a thing." He blinked innocently, evidently drawing comfort from her uneasiness. _Sadist._ "Besides, you've told me before that you hated shopping. I planned to take you around the Italian underworld today, since as a Vongola boss you would be spending much of your time here." He nonchalantly led her past thugs with arms as wide as tree trunks and muscles that threatened to bust the tight suits or muscle shirts some of them wore. Many of them nodded or bowed when Reborn walked past. Evidently Reborn commanded their respect, Chaviva noted with an amount of relief. The feeling did not last long when her tutor kicked open the door of a rundown, dilapidated bar and strode in, completely disregarding the bulky bouncers standing guard. With a nervous smile and duck of her head, she inched her way into the bar behind Reborn. When she turned to look for him, he had already made his way to the bar and settled into the high bar stool. She weaved carefully through the tables of shady characters and cautiously climbed onto the stool next to him. She watched as he ordered a Zombie cocktail, and waved the bartender away sheepishly when he turned to her with a sceptical look in his eye. The women in the bar were either scantily clad bar workers or dressed in formal suits, evidently part of some shady organization or other. The dance floor of an adjoining club was empty yet at this time of day, the flashing coloured lights illuminating the scuffed and worn flooring.

"Reborn…" He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

"What…the heck are we doing here?"

"Educating you. Aside from that, I haven't had a proper drink for some time." Accepting the glass from the bartender with a slight nod, he put it to his lips and took a mouthful, closing his eyes for a moment as the strong alcohol burned its way down his system. Chaviva rolled her eyes internally. _Definitely here only for the drink. _"Oh, and I ordered a beer for you too. It's one of the mildest in this bar, not something I'd drink, for sure, but you could start with that. As a Mafia boss, you'd want a high alcohol tolerance too. Plenty of social drinking, and your drink will get spiked pretty often." She stared at him like he had gone mad. The beer careened across the bar table and slid to stop before her, along with a not altogether clean glass. She looked up to see the bartender wink and give her a thumbs up, before turning back to his drink-mixing.

"I'm underage, Reborn. I can't." She shoved at the beer bottle, then yelped as her hand was slammed into the table.

"Well now, didn't have any trouble getting into the club, did you?" His wicked smile widened as he poured the beer liberally into the glass. "Drink up. And you're paying for this."

"What?" Outraged, she glared at him guzzling the super cocktail as if it were water. He seemed completely unfazed by the alcohol. _Since I'm paying, might as well…_She sighed. "If I'm drunk, I don't know how we're getting home."

"I'm quite sure it won't be any different from how we got here. Your driving can't possibly get much worse." Chaviva gritted her teeth and took her first sip of the bitter, burning liquid. She coughed a little, but swallowed, feeling the liquid raze its way down her throat. She finished one and a half glasses and began to feel dizzy. _Needs improvement, _she thought woozily when someone grabbed her by the back of the neck and slammed her into the table. In that instantaneous second before she hit the table she shoved away with her feet, shooting her body into that of her attacker. They both crashed to the floor, and she rolled to her feet unsteadily, head ringing from the alcohol.

_Shit, what was that? Who is that? I can't fight in this state. Shouldn't have drank so much. _She swayed for a moment, the floor reeling dangerously close. In a corner of the spinning room, she noted a tall redhead already charging for her. _Too late._ The weapon he swung in his hand would have caught her in the head, except she stumbled backwards. The spear end of his mace—for that was what he was using—gashed her across the stomach. Gasping, she clutched the wound. The slice was long but shallow, and did not bleed heavily. Pain sliced through her as she straightened. _Who is this guy?_ She desperately tried to regain her sense of balance, weaving through the tables of jeering people. Evidently, such situations happened often enough to be considered mere entertainment. Grimacing, she turned to look for Reborn, just in time to see one of his maces hurtling towards her. Ducking hurriedly, she heard the spear head thud into the wall behind her. He casually replaced his weapon with the many maces hanging at his belt.

Her vision was finally beginning to focus. The adrenaline rush took away some of the effects of the alcohol, enough for her to make her way out of the bar into another room—a storage room, filled with barrels of alcohol. She backed up against the opposite wall as her attacker strode into the room. He was indisputably good looking, blessed with classic good looks—and a native Italian, from the look of it. He had fiery red hair which curled at the nape of his neck and stormy blue-gray eyes under dark brows which drew together over a strong nose and carved mouth. Tall and lean, he wore a black suit, the white shirt collar left unbuttoned and open. Rings graced most of his fingers, including his thumb. Two spearheads connected to long chains wound around his hands, the other end counterweighted with spiked metal balls.

"Who are you, and why the heck are you trying to kill me?" Chaviva asked, one hand reaching for the dying will pills. Worming two of them into her hands, she fisted them so he would not see."

"I should be asking you that. After all, you must be important enough that someone hired an assassin from the Mafia just to kill a girl like you." The contempt in his voice was unmistakable, and it ground against her pride. _Hired assassin? Perhaps…the same group that took Andreas._ She brought her hand to her mouth and popped the two pills. Her eyes began to grow and flames grew on her forehead. Unnoticed, Reborn perched on one of the barrels of alcohol piled in the room.

"Kill me? You could try." The last of the alcohol's effects burned away by the dying will flames, she unleashed her fire sleeves to knock aside the mace he flung at her. Rearming himself, he began to swing his weapon in a menacing whirl, gaining momentum. With a growl he launched himself at Chaviva, ducking under the swing of her fire sleeves.

"Tch." She retracted the flames and jumped to avoid the swinging maces, twisting to land a kick on his shoulder. He barely dodged, her heel catching him on the edge of his shoulder, knocking him slightly off balance. Swinging a flaming fist, she aimed for his face but did not anticipate that he would use the momentum of her previous blow and fall to the floor, swinging both legs up in a cartwheel-like motion. The kick caught her in the midriff, right below her legs, causing her to sail into a barrel of alcohol, breaking it in a crash of splintering wood. She coughed and sputtered, the alcohol burning her eyes. _Shit, alcohol! _Hurriedly she extinguished her dying will flames lest her entire body caught fire, since she was soaked in alcohol. As it was, the barrel exploded into flames just as she rolled out of the way.

He grinned, casually swinging his maces. "What if, I were to light my own flames…" Red dying will flames erupted along the spearhead of his maces, leaving a blazing ring of fire. _He can wield dying will flames? Who is this guy?_

_How can I fight now?_

A/N: Sorry for the late release dahlinggs! Holidays are almost over here *mourning* and my work schedule is starting again : I hope you enjoyed this! The first guardian hast appeared! /was I supposed to tell you that/ Oh well! Look forward to the next chapter! Please read and review


	8. Chapter 8

"Gavino. Member of the Varia assassination group, part of the Vongola Famiglia. One of the perfect assassins, that is, those with no record of having failed a single mission. Evidently, he's accepting missions aside from those assigned by the Vongola as well." Reborn chuckled.

"I see I'm famous." Gavino smiled a smile that would have been disarmingly charming if not for the deadly weapons in his hands. "Since you know that, then you should be quite clear your friend here has no chance of survival, private hitman tutor, Reborn." The miniature hitman smirked, making a derisive sound.

"Wrong on two counts. First, she's not my friend. She's my student. Second, you will be the one with no chance of survival—except she lacks the backbone to kill you."

"Reborn, I—" He scowled at her.

"Don't prove me wrong. I taught you better than that." He levelled his gun at her. Paling, she scrambled backwards, the barrel of his gun following her. "That's right. Stay right there." In a swift movement too fast for her to catch, he aimed his gun at the ceiling above her and shot twice, hitting the water tank he knew to be there. There was an ominous creaking sound as the wood splintered and metal groaned. Chaviva glanced up in alarm, just in time for the torrent of water to hit her directly in the face. Coughing and sputtering, she splashed around in the growing puddle, attempting to escape from the cascade, which gradually slowed to a trickle.

"Now this should be fine." Reborn shot another bullet before she could recover. This one struck her right in the forehead, knocking her back a few steps. Her hair tie had come undone when the water hit her. Water dripped from the ends of her long black hair. She shoved some behind her ear to reveal vivid orange eyes. The water in her hair sizzled and steamed as the death flames bloomed. All traces of alcohol thoroughly flushed from her person, she turned to face Gavino again. Mentally, she calculated her next move.

"Let's see what I can do about that perfect assassination record of yours." Chaviva ignited the death flames on her hands with a flick of her wrist. Gavino smiled grimly, whirling his maces.

"Let's see you try." Chaviva launched herself at him, fist flying at his face. "Too slow." He ducked, grinning as her fist whizzed past his face. He swung his mace full forced into her hip. Turning slightly, Chaviva managed to avoid the brunt of the blow, wincing as the spearhead sliced a searing line across her hip. Her fist behind his head, she unleashed her flame sleeves quickly, snapping them out and hooking them back in with a yank, smashing two barrels along the way. The sleeves almost sliced through Gavino when he swung his maces up and blocked her flames with his.

"Nice try. Now, my turn." He answered with a flurry of attacks, his maces whistling past her face, only millimetres from her skin. Eyes focused on the maces, Chaviva avoided his attacks but failed to notice his foot as it hooked up and out, catching her square in the stomach. Air whooshed out of her and she flew back to slam into a stack of barrels. The wood began to splinter, and the topmost barrels wobbled, threatening to collapse. With a curse, she flung her flame sleeves behind her, propelling her away from the pyramid as it collapsed. Even so, the barrels burst into flames. _I should end this quickly, before the flames get out of control! _Summoning her energy, she flung her flame sleeves out towards Gavino.

As he flung storm flame-tipped maces at her, she deflected them with a flick of her sleeves, continuing to propel the sleeves towards him. He cursed as the sleeves wound around his legs, yanking them out from under him. He sat down, hard. He sliced at them with his maces; Chaviva concentrated and focused more power into maintaining the stream of dying will flames. To both their surprise, his legs began slowly turning a shade of grey from the toes up.

"What the hell?" Beginning to panic, Gavino struggled futilely at the restraints. _I can't move the parts that are grey anymore!_

"It's…turning to stone!" Chaviva exclaimed with astonishment. Her concentration wavered for a moment, and the sleeves frayed as Gavino redoubled his efforts. The restraints loosened just enough for him to yank away from her power. His leg slowly returned to normal. Watching from the rafters, well away from the flames still raging in a corner, Reborn responded with astonishment. The petrification skill was characteristic of the sky flames' harmony attribute—a flame Chaviva should be able to use only if and when she received the Vongola sky ring, or if she was using a sky attribute ring. However, her own dying will flames appeared to naturally possess an element of sky flames, aside from the frequency required to unlock a ring's power…_A natural affinity for sky flames…can that actually exist? _He would have to look into that. Perhaps his student truly was the right choice for the Vongola boss. Not that he had actually ever doubted that.

Chaviva leapt out of the way of yet another of his maces, and paused to catch her breath. Sweat trickled down the sides of her temples and down her nose. The heat was suffocating, and the flames were spreading at a rapid rate. _The flames…there must be some way to overcome them…or use them! _With a flash of inspiration, she leapt away from the barrel, smashing another three along the way. The heady smell of whiskey mingled with the stench of burning wood as the alcohol streamed out of the barrels. Chaviva continued to avoid Gavino's attacks, levering barrels into the air and heaving them at him, only the smash them before they hit him.

"What, your accuracy is failing. Perhaps you're still drunk, eh?" Gavino grinned fiendishly at her as his next mace sliced painfully through her arm. She hissed in pain, then retorted.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Gavino belatedly noticed the moat of alcohol that Chaviva had created around him.

"Shit." Chaviva flicked her flame sleeves, igniting the river of alcohol. Gavino sank to the ground, unable to take the heat.

"I should put out the fire soon…I don't want him to burn to death." Chaviva bit her lip worriedly as Gavino gasped for breath, the oxygen being consumed by the fire. "He's unlikely to attack me after this anyway, right, Reborn?" He leapt from the rafters to land on her shoulder.

"Aside from the foolish notion of saving one's enemy, and the even more irrational expectation for a trained assassin not to attack you after such a severe blow to his pride, I doubt you can put out that fire. There's more alcohol in this room than you realise. Good work on the trap, though." True enough, the flames crept and leapt along the trail of alcohol. Each time it touched a barrel, that barrel exploded in a ball of fire, igniting its neighbours as well. Chaviva gasped and backed off hurriedly when a nearby barrel spontaneously combusted. Through the raging flames, she could barely make out the slumped silhouette of Gavino.

"Dammit." Chaviva shot a flame sleeve into the ceiling above her, busting the water tank she knew instinctively to be there. Reborn jumped out of the way just in time. Water poured down over her, soaking her clothes. With that, she fired flames from her palms, propelling herelf straight into the flames.

"Chaviva!" Reborn sighed and shook his head. "Vongola will always be Vongola."

A/N: And once again, the crazy girl leaps into the fire. I've always thought I'd like to try that. It'd be deuced dangerous though :P

School's started, my schedule's building up I promise to try to update as frequently as possible, but I kinda doubt my ability to squeeze in time to write quality chapters. Please hang in there and don't give up, and I promise I will update! Definitely! Thank you for supporting Chaviva so far! : The pairing is still a way off (sorry to disappoint you) but the best relationships develop after hardships, remember? Plus, Reborn's hardened bachelor's pride isn't so easily broken :D


	9. Chapter 9

The heat was unbelievably intense. Cast in red, flickering brilliance, the room seemed to throb with heat, pulsing with the roaring flames, pounding in time with Chaviva's aching head. The smoke invaded her lungs, making her choke and press a soaked sleeve to her nose. Desperately, she sucked in the oxygen deficit air. She fired herself through the worst of the heat and came to the small patch of safety where Gavino slumped. _No time to rest._ When she removed the sleeve from her nose, she almost choked on the smoke. Eyes watering, she slid Gavino's limp arm around her shoulders. Bracing her feet beneath her, she heaved upright. Without sufficient oxygen, Gavino was a dead weight on her back. He stirred as she took a stumbling step towards the ring of flames that surrounded them.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving your ass." Chaviva grunted. Gavino looked at her as if she had sprouted an extra pair of ears.

"Why would you—"

"Save the questions for later, will you? We'll die soon if we don't get out." As the words left her mouth, the ceiling creaked ominously. Several of the supporting rafters creaked and threatened to give out. _Shit. The building is old and made of wood, so it is really weak against fire. _Chaviva paused at the edge of the fire, the unbearable heat forcing her to take a few steps back. Several bits of wood broke off and tumbled down in a shower of ash. The ceiling sagged, collapse inevitable. Looking around desperately, she spied a rough hole in the wooden wall where the fire had burnt its way through.

"DAMN cheapskate people who can't be bothered to renovate!" Using her dying will flames as propulsion, she hurled Gavino through the flames and out the exit, where he landed unceremoniously, skidding painfully on the hard-packed dirt outside. As the entire building caved in, Chaviva desperately flew across the unbearable heat and out the opening milliseconds before the entrance crumbled. She dropped and rolled, coming to rest right before she smashed into the opposite building's wall. Exhausted, she slumped against the cool concrete and gulped down her precious oxygen. She didn't even notice when Reborn approached and shot her straight in the face with a water gun. Sputtering, she glared malevolently at him, unable to summon the strength to force an insult past her raw, burning throat.

"You might want to look to your right." Puzzled, she complied and did a double take, scrambling away from Gavino, who had prostrated himself on the ground before her.

"Whoa! Babe, a simple 'thank you I won't kill you again' would do, man." She croaked out, then choked, eyes watering, as the words ripped through her throat.

"Aoki Chaviva. I henceforth denounce my affiliation with the Varia and pledge my loyalty and allegiance to you." His eyes, when they met hers, were overflowing with admiration. Chaviva narrowed her eyes.

"This is just a teeny bit strange. Besides, I don't even know—"

"She gladly receives your offer of allegiance, and wishes you to join her Famiglia as her Storm Guardian." Gavino's eyes widened and he pressed his forehead to the ground once again.

"Oh do stop doing that and Reborn! I object! I mean, I can't drag someone I don't even know to be part of the Famiglia, whatever that is." A loud sigh from Gavino made Chaviva look over.

"I thought all women would be won over by loud declarations of devotion." Chaviva stared at him strangely. _Is he…an idiot?_ "Oh well. But nonetheless," His wry smile straightened into a more serious expression. "I honestly do want to be part of your Famiglia. I greatly admire your self-sacrificial act in saving me, and I would like to get to know more of you. Besides, I no longer have a perfect record. How can I return to the Varia?"

For all she knew, he could be a traitor, or may only be using her as an escape route. Though he seemed sincere enough, she would never know his true intentions…until she tried. _I guess I'll trust Reborn on this. _

"Welcome to the Vongola Famiglia, Gavino." He smiled and grasped the proffered hand.

Reborn smirked in approval.

"Rise and shine." As her consciousness slowly drifted up into awareness, she heard a ticking sound.

"Shit." Instantly alert, she catapulted herself off the bed, yanked the window open, and hurled the pipe bomb that had been sitting on her pillow, next to her head out the window moments before it exploded. Panting wildly, pressing one hand to her pounding heart, she turned to glare at Reborn.

"Are you trying to kill me, because I'm telling you its working! A few more weeks of this and my heart will simply give out." He had already turned his back and was almost to the door. "REBORN!" She roared. He finally turned with a sadistic smile.

"I see you didn't like the new alarm clock I acquired for you. Such a pity; from what I observed it seemed really effective too." Almost at the door, he paused. "Meet me at the main driveway when you're done. And try not to get lost." The door slammed shut as Chaviva massaged under her eyes with her knuckles. _More DRIVING. _

"WHERE! ARE WE! GOING!" Her voice was strained as she moved forward jerkily, inch by inch. She tried to apply pressure slowly to the gas pedal, but immediately stomped on the brake with a squeal when the vehicle lurched forward.

"Nowhere, at the rate you're driving. However, I do believe we set off with the intention to meet an old friend." Reborn seemed completely at home, hovering on a tiny sun flame-powered cushioned platform. "Please try to make it to the airport, if you can."

Two strenuous, heart-stopping hours later, Chaviva clambered out of the car, hugged the nearest pillar and sobbed in relief.

"Land, solid land!" She crooned to the pillar. Reborn ignored his pupil and checked the time.

"He should be arriving in five minutes. Better hurry." With that, he took off with a speed incongruous with his size.

At the arrival gate, Chaviva plonked down in a nearby plastic bench, trying to catch her breath as inconspicuously as possible.

"That's right, Reborn. You haven't told me who this friend of yours that's arriving today is."

Reborn cocked an eyebrow. "Friend of mine? You're mistaken. It's a friend of yours."

"Huh?"

"Hey! Chav!" An all too familiar voice rang out. As she turned to look at the man running towards her full tilt, dragging a huge luggage, she gaped.

"Kozaburo Yasushi?"

A/N: The next chapter! Sorry for the long wait! haha yes an old friend indeed! Haha thank you so much for reviewing faithfully :D Yes jumping into fire definitely sounds fun…But I'm guessing not so in real life :X More humour, I think that could be managed :D I'll try. Hmm, may be planning for such a scene perhaps! Perhaps! Really really much later down the road. And if I do, I'll put it in a separate fic safely labelled M, so : in this one it'll exist as a time jump, if it does at all. So worry thee not! I hope I can update again soon!


	10. Chapter 10

"Chav!" He smiled his shit-eating grin. "You…" He glared her down. "Why did you leave without telling us? Sensei almost beheaded me in fury!"

Smiling sheepishly, she backed up, hands held forward defensively. "Heh…about that…I didn't really have a choice!" She stepped on the heel of her own slipper as she scrambled backwards and gave a little scream as she fell. Before she hit the ground, Kozaburo caught her by the elbow and yanked her back upright.

"Still as clumsy as ever, eh?" He sighed. Chaviva ducked her head sheepishly.

"Oh, right! I wanted to ask, why are you here?" Kozaburo rummaged in his bag and brought out a letter.

"Apparently, some elite school over here noticed my talent in Wu Shu, and decided to drag me over from Japan on scholarship. My dad was really enthusiastic about it, so…" He shrugged nonchalantly. Chaviva glanced through the letter and immediately felt the urge to bash her head against a nearby wall. _This…it's got Reborn written all over it, I swear. It's so painfully obvious. _Kozaburo did not seem to notice her change in expression and continued, "Though why an Italian school would want a Chinese martial artist just boggles me." _Of course it boggles you. It's not the school that wrote that letter. Or if it is, they were writing at gunpoint. Reborn's gunpoint. _

"Give me a sec, Kozaburo." She dropped to Reborn's eye level. "Why did you just drag my friend all the way from Japan on a wild goose chase for a scholarship?" Reborn sighed in mock disappointment.

"Oh, how could you have so little trust in me? He really is going to be enrolled into the elite Italian school." _Definitely gunpoint. _"And I brought him here for you. He's going to be your Vongola Guardian of the Rain." Chaviva suddenly felt faint.

"Aside from the issue that you're randomly pulling people in to join my Famiglia, how the hell is he supposed to survive in an Italian school when he can't speak a word of Italian?" She hissed. Kozaburo glanced at her, puzzled by her agonized expression.

"You certainly can't make choices for your Famiglia, so I shall. Plus, he'll survive. He'll have a fellow sufferer, after all." Her heart sank as she glimpsed that infamous grin of his. "You're joining him in the academy. Can't have you leaving school at such a young age now, can we?"

* * *

><p>"Somehow, going to school in plainclothes just feels plain awkward." Chaviva complained, tugging at the collar of her long-sleeved white shirt. To her, school and uniform had always come as a package. It felt strange to be attending lessons in jeans, shirt un-tucked and sleeves rolled up. Reborn perched on her shoulder, surprisingly light, especially in comparison with her 10-tonne bag. Now that was something inseparable from studying. The bag, not Reborn.<p>

"Hey, boss!" She flinched and turned. Gavino was approaching at top speed. "On your way to school too, I see! I was overjoyed when Reborn told me we're in the same class!" She stopped in her tracks, causing him to overshoot a metre or two before backtracking hurriedly.

"Gavino…"

"Yeah?"

"If I'm not wrong, you're 19, aren't you."

"That's right!" Inside, he did a victory dance over the fact that she had remembered his age. He _did_ so like rejoicing over the most menial things. Especially when they were related to his boss. On Chaviva's side, she was busy mourning the loss of yet another fragment of her sanity. If it had even existed in the first place.

"So…this _is _a class for age 15 to 16 we're talking about. Aren't you…a little old for a student?"

"Ah! No I'm not studying! I'm teaching! Italian and Math!" Chaviva nearly fainted on the spot.

"Aren't you a little young for a teacher?" He laughed, scratching his head bashfully.

"You're flattering me, boss. It's normal to complete two PhDs at my age in my family!"

"You have TWO. PhDs."

"Math and Philosophy!" He nodded emphatically. "I thought it was pretty pointless, but I don't regret it at all now! After all, it's giving me the opportunity to be with boss!"

Chaviva was about to run to a corner and weep at her inferiority when Kozaburo jogged up out of the blue and grabbed her arm, causing her to leap a foot in the air and lose ten years of her life. "Chav! If you don't hurry we're going to be late! Bell rings in five minutes! Run!" He barely missed being beheaded by the business end of Gavino's mace.

"Don't touch the boss! Name your intentions, or lose your life!" Gavino growled menacingly. Kozaburo's eyes narrowed and he reached for the glaive he always carried slung across his back.

"STOP! TIME OUT! HE'S MY FRIEND! COOL IT!" Chaviva waved her arms frantically, shoving her way between the two.

"Him?" They both looked quizzically at each other.

"In that case, hi! I'm Kozaburo, you?" Hostility erased from his demeanour in a split-second, Kozaburo held out his hand with a friendly grin. Gavino eyed him suspiciously for a moment before gingerly grasping the proffered limb.

"Only because boss says so," he muttered under his breath. Chaviva sighed. _This is going to be a long day. A very, very long day._

* * *

><p>"Sometimes people are so damn annoying I wonder what it'd be like to live a life of complete solitude." Chaviva grumbled to herself, throwing an arm over her eyes as she flopped down on her bed.<p>

"You wouldn't survive a day." Reborn remarked calmly. Alarmed, she twisted to see him sprawled out on her pillow, fedora tilted forward over his eyes.

"How on earth did—oh never mind. I should give up asking such questions." A barrage of knocks on the door interrupted their conversation. "Who—?" Chaviva swung to her feet and trotted over to open the door. The familiar face of her mother greeted her.

"Hi Chav! We've moved in next door! They assigned us this suite of rooms opposite yours as the candidate's family, so if you need anything we're right here. We'll be supporting you during the fight, so do us proud! Bye!" As suddenly as she had arrived, she turned, cross the short space between their rooms and yanked the door shut behind her.

"O-kay…"

Perplexed, she stepped into the adjoining kitchen to make herself a pot of tea. Automatically, she added enough for Reborn as well.

"REBORN!" An overexcited female sprinted into the room, her hair a blazing banner of pink. Chaviva nearly dropped the fragile pot on the floor, catching it just centimetres before it hit the ground. She yelped as the heated porcelain scorched her hand, making her set the pot down with a clatter and clutch her hand in agony. Cursing loudly, she ran her hand under the tap, dousing the scald with cool water.

"Who the hell is that?" Mood thoroughly soured, she stormed out of the kitchen to be met with the reason for her annoyance, a curvy female slightly older than her that exuded sex appeal. Long, wavy fuchsia hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back as she turned to fix her blue-eyed stare on Chaviva. She wore an expression of hatred that rivalled Chaviva's exasperation.

With a contemptuous snort, she spoke in a husky voice that Chaviva suspected drove men all over the world insane. "So this is the girl that has been gallivanting with Reborn." Turning to Reborn, who was lounging nonchalantly on Chaviva's bed, she continued in a simpering tone. "I don't see why you spend so much time with her, Reborn honey. I mean, this _thing_—her body's straighter than a ruler." Chaviva flushed, attacked where it hurt the most. Her greatest insecurity with her figure was her sheer lack of feminine curves. While her chest had developed satisfactorily, her waist to hip ratio was almost equal, giving her a child's straight, rectangular body.

"It's my job, Bianca." _Déjà vu,_ Reborn thought, smirking to himself.

"Well _excuse me_ if I'm not some incredible sex goddess. News flash: I don't give a damn! Now I think majority of the world's population wouldn't consider it normal to barge into someone's room and insult her. The exit's this way, if you couldn't find it." Thoroughly pissed, she stormed over and yanked open the room door.

"I'm not leaving without Reborn!" Bianca stood protectively between Chaviva and Reborn. Chaviva rolled her eyes. As if that devil of a man needed any form of protection.

"You can _have _him." She hissed back at Bianca. Reborn shook his head as Bianca looked at him hopefully.

"I can't abandon my job. I'm her mentor." Bianca's expression fell, then brightened.

"Shouldn't matter if she's dead, right?" Reborn chuckled.

"Now that's an interesting idea." Chaviva sputtered indignation.

"What kind of tutor are you?"

"Don't insult Reborn!" Bianca launched herself at Chaviva with an enraged cry. In one hand she held a…_cupcake?_ Chaviva ducked and the pastry splattered onto the wall, which promptly began to corrode.

"Look here, bitch!" She leapt aside and the next cupcake spattered over one of her favourite books, lying on a nearby desk. She observed, horrified for a few moments. All at once, her frustration boiled up in a poisonous, violent, turbulent feeling.

"That's it. I'm going to kill you." Grabbing a nearby folder to bat away the poisonous projectiles, she charged at Bianca, took her raking fingers across her neck and kicked her in the stomach with all the accumulated anger in her. "That's for my wall." Swinging the rapidly disintegrating folder, she whacked Bianca across the side of the head. "For my book." She caught Bianca's swinging fist into her eye, and returned with a stinging slap to her cheek. Before Bianca could recover, she finished off by grabbing her shoulders and kneeing her in the sternum, hard. The breath whooshed out of her and Bianca stumbled back, heaving. "And that's for calling me straight. Get the _hell_ out." Grabbing Bianca by the upper arm, she practically threw the girl out of the room and slammed the door, locking it. The door rattled violently as she battered it, screaming abuse at Chaviva. Breathing hard, Chaviva gingerly washed the bloody scratches on her neck, wincing as the water stung the raw skin.

"Your eye's turning black," Reborn observed calmly. She wanted to scream at him. Rather, she spoke with a calm that surprised even herself.

"Reborn."

"Yeah?"

"Could you at least keep your lovers under control?"

"She's not my lover. Besides, it's a family tradition." He chuckled at some private joke. "She sure resembles her grandmother." _You, on the other hand, are quite different from Dame-Tsuna. _"I want my tea." He reminded.

"Get it yourself." She muttered spitefully. Reborn cocked his gun with a click. Chaviva froze.

"You were saying?" Sighing, she made her way to the kitchen. _Damn it all._

"Right away." Reborn revelled in that moment of triumphant joy he felt whenever he bullied his students. He settled back on Chaviva's bed.

_Maybe they aren't so different after all._ Somehow, he found that wildly amusing.

* * *

><p>AN: Happy Chinese New Year! Finally found the time to write this chapter. It's pretty flat though, focusing on the introduction of characters. Bear with me, there's a number more to introduce before the action kick-starts again with the succession's finals! : Looking forward to writing _that._ See you around! :D


	11. Chapter 11

Chaviva stalked into the room, hot and frustrated. Flopping down on her chair, she flipped open her laptop and flicked the switch in one swift movement. She had just undergone training with one of the Vongola's new and improved robots, and had lost most embarrassingly. On the other hand, Gavino and Kozaburo had beaten it in an instant. Despite numerous attempts, the results remained unchanged. Running one of the computer's mini-games, she leaned back in her chair and breathed, trying to calm down. Kozaburo had been extremely encouraging, and Gavino appeared to have complete faith in her abilities. Which, she was quite sure, was extremely lacking. The worst part had been Reborn's poker face. He had refrained from his usual taunts and sarcastic remarks, remaining silent except for the occasional criticism. Pushing off the table, she wandered into the kitchen, retrieving a cube of ice from the fridge and popping into her mouth.

The door slammed open. Astonished, Chaviva inhaled and choked on the ice. Coughing desperately, she struggled to breathe. Someone pounded her on the back until the ice came back up and shot onto the floor. Chaviva clutched her chest, wheezing.

"What the hell…" She glared at the intruder. Cassidy smiled back innocently.

"Hey Chav! Haven't seen you in a long time."

"Yeah, since the fight." Awkward silence ensued. Chaviva felt a strong urge to slap herself for saying something so stupid.

"Chav…About that…I'm really sorry, you know. I won't do it again." Cassidy's waves of long hair covered her expression. Chaviva sighed.

"Look…let's just forget about all that, kay? You know, just…start again. As in, I can't pretend it never happened, but…I mean, you're my sister, so…" Chaviva struggled to express the complexity of the situation. Still muttering to herself, she squeaked in surprise as Cassidy flung her arms around her.

"Thank you." For a moment, Chaviva thought she heard a sob. Then Cassidy was standing upright again, beaming at her. "So how was your day?" She took a moment to snap back into the conversation.

"My day? Oh, um good. Not so good, actually. Pretty bad, considering...Okay it sucked." She sighed shoved at her hair, aggravated.

"Why?" That question, asked so many times over their lives as siblings, seemed to unlock a whole flow of words that Chaviva had not realised she had bottled up due to an absence of close female companions. She ranted on and on about the whole training process, Reborn's bizarre methods of teaching, and other crazy events in her life.

"I mean, I feel so inferior." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Like I can't match up to his expectations. Which, for some reason, I desperately want to, you know?" Cassidy smiled wryly.

"Chav, you're only human. Just because you've always succeeded in what you do at some point or another, doesn't mean you always have to. You don't have to be the best at everything at once, no one expects you to. I think you've tried hard enough—and will continue to, so as always, you'll get there! Okay?"

Chaviva punched Cassidy lightly on the arm. "You're kidding. I don't succeed at EVERYTHING I do."

"Yes you do! Except under these crazy tutors—these little kids!"

"Arcobalenos, I read."

"Stop being so exact, Chav! Yeah, they're so _sadistic_ I mean I swear that Marmon was laughing his ass off when I flung that knife into my own leg that first time!" Chaviva laughed, feeling the burden of disappointment lighten a little.

"Oh, you haven't heard the worst of it. That Reborn abuses my head so often, I estimate I've lost a million brain cells to his ruthless attacks already!"

"I see you two are having fun complaining behind your tutors' backs." Reborn's dry voice startled them into silence. Chaviva froze and cautiously turned to see Reborn and Marmon glaring at them, arms folded. Her vision exploded in a shower of starts as his foot connected with her head once again. Cursing under her breath, she stood up, gingerly holding her head. A blood curdling scream pierced the air. Cassidy was being chased around the room by a giant cockroach. Chaviva shuddered in revulsion as it waved its grotesque feelers at Cassidy, who was near tears.

"I'm sorry Marmon! Please stop the illusion!" Wailing, she dashed out of the room and down the corridor.

"If you know it's an illusion, why are you still caught in it? Useless student." Marmon sighed and followed his student out. The cockroach dissolved in a wisp of indigo smoke.

"Have I mentioned I'm grateful Reborn can't do illusions?" Chaviva remarked to no one in particular. Reborn raised an eyebrow thoughtfully.

"Now there's an idea." She paled. Reborn enjoyed her reaction immensely. "Anyway, the reason I came is because of this request from the 11th boss." She took the folded and sealed paper from him. The orange sky flames of the Vongola boss burned strangely without destroying the paper.

_Dear Chaviva, _

_Congratulations on making it past the first round! My brother told me much about you, and I have high hopes for your becoming boss. I'll wait till the succession fight to confirm that intuition, though. Before that, I have a small request for you. As you know, the Mafia watches over the Italian underworld—and regulate some criminal actions that are inhumane or a danger to the society. We police the world—in a different way. I'd like you to help me take care of this illegal slave trading den one of our moles discovered recently. Reborn knows the way. Thank you for the favour. _

_Sawada Yahiko_

Chaviva stared blankly at the request for a moment. "And…can I reject this? Wait, let me guess. No."

"Give the girl a prize! Think of it as good training, Chaviva. Go get the car." Reborn strode out before she could say another word. _The car…_her stomach sank.

Night had fallen. A light drizzle made everyone uncomfortably damp, but not soaked.

"So this is the slave house." Reborn nodded. The building was old and dilapidated. Dim light spilled onto the street from the crack beneath the door, and human voices and raucous laughter echoed in the otherwise silent street. Bidders hollered the most exorbitant prices they could afford, each round of chaos punctuated by the pounding of a hammer. The copper handle of the back door was a disgusting shade of green, but turned easily under Chaviva's hand. Gingerly, she creaked open the door and stepped out of the rain.

The rundown corridor was empty and dark. She shuffled to the side to make way for the others. At the end of the corridor, a shaft of yellow light filtered in through a crack in a door. Heart thumping nervously, she made her way down the passage and peeked through to see a cramped, narrow room with a high ceiling. The announcer stood on a pedestal. He thumped a crude hammer to command the bidders' attention.

"Next up, we have the main piece for the night. Brought in from the tropical continent of Africa—this monster took us 10 men to capture! Comes with a box of sedatives to subdue him, and—" Listening, Chaviva wanted to gag. _This is sick and wrong._ Jaw tightening with fury, she reached for the tablets.

"It appears there remains much to be taught." Reborn laid a restraining hand on her wrist. "Take a good look first. Make plans. Or you will do no more than lose your own life." Chastised, Chaviva scanned the whole room, attempting to analyse the situation with a rational eye. Approximately twenty or so bidders filled the room, waving their makeshift bidding numbers and calling offers. In front, the huge African man they had called a "monster" was wheeled in. Huge arms with fists the size of small hams gripped the iron bars of his cage. Dark eyes flashing with fury, he applied force—and to Chaviva's great surprise, managed to bend one of the two inch think bars slightly. _He's strong! _Someone she could use, she mused. Slowly, a plan began to formulate in her head.

Reborn watched his student and smiled. It would appear the guardian of the same flame as his would soon be joining the Famiglia.

As planned, of course.

A/N: Oh MAN I FEEL SO BAD it's been over a month I think my project work is driving me nuts! I'll try to rush out the next chapter ASAP I promiseeee MUST FIND TIME TO WRITE RAWRR


	12. Chapter 12

Two tongues of flame lashed out, slicing the cage clean in two, leaving its occupant unharmed. With a yell, Chaviva flicked her flame sleeves around, knocking back a row of spectators. The rest of her Famiglia charged in after her. Hurriedly, the guards reorganized themselves and began to fire bullets at them. Gavino successfully deflected the bullets with his storm-flame maces, but Kozaburo was left unguarded, and began to weave his way towards a pillar.

"Kozaburo!" Heart constricting for a moment, she flung an arm out and barely deflected a stray bullet. Relief flooded into her as Kozaburo waved his thanks and took cover. Gunshots rang out. Dropping into a crouch, she tugged her flame sleeves overhead and zigzagged her way across the room, avoiding the fleeing customers. She barrelled straight into a particularly blubbery buyer, fell, rolled, and leapt up again almost instantly, unharmed but half winded. The buyer took one look at the flames emerging from her forehead and scrambled backwards, whimpering for her not to kill him. She rolled her eyes, then growled at him for good measure. The terrified man screeched, jerked back, hit his head on a chair and lost consciousness. She snickered, then caught herself and cursed silently for getting distracted. She cast her eyes over the room for the organizers of the auction.

Right at the back of the room, nearly obscured by a tattered curtain, a group of five men were busy wrestling cases of money out of the room. _Save your money, lose your chance to escape_, she thought coldly. Gathering in her dying will flames, she leapt up and thrust out with both arms. One sleeve whipped around the men, yanking them roughly back into the room. The other slashed through the support beams of the doorway, causing the unstable structure to collapse, trapping the would-be escapees. One of them yanked a gun from a coat pocket and began firing haphazardly at her friends. Lashing out, she knocked the gun from his hand, sending it spinning in a glinting arc across the room. With the same movement, she launched herself at him. _Damn. I'm going too fast_. She tensed to absorb his first punch, curving her body to the side to avoid the brunt of the blow. It caught her in the ribs, the impact far stronger than she judged it should have been. Her shirt tore, and something carved bloody furrows across her skin. The air was knocked out of her lungs. Eyes watering, gasping in pain, she fell to one knee. The man sported spiked knuckledusters, with blood stained metal spikes.

Before she could react, he lifted a booted leg and kicked her to the ground. She cursed under her breath but managed to roll to her feet. At such close range, within a confined space, it was difficult to effectively manipulate her sleeves. The man launched himself at her again, spiked knuckle dusters flashing in the dim fluorescent light. She tried to duck, but stumbled and received a glancing slash across her arm. She gasped at the sudden searing pain. He grinned triumphantly and brought his arm back for the final blow. Quickly, she dropped to the ground, following the motion of her fall, and brought one foot up with all the force she could muster, catching him in his momentarily unprotected armpit. His arm fell, numb and motionless. Without pausing, she grasped the other end of a fire sleeve, looped it around his head twice and yanked hard. Choking for air, the man fell to his knees. She grasped his arms, one dangling uselessly, and twisted the flaming fabric around them as well.  
>"Calm down, lady! There's no harm done!" He managed to gasp out. Her anger flared, as did the flames, burning with a sudden heat. The man roared in agony.<br>"Chaviva, relax. You wouldn't want to be charged for murder. The Vindice will take care of him later." Reborn murmured quietly, perched on her shoulder. She forced herself to quiet her raging emotions. Yanking the man around, she leaned over menacingly.  
>He found himself staring into flat, dark eyes. "No harm done?" Her laugh was harsh and barking. "You must be blind, not to see the 'harm' done to them." She flung an arm out in a sweeping gesture, illustrating the room of slaves that Kozaburo had successfully broken into. About ten or so of them, mostly children, were chained in a row, now watching with terrified expressions the destruction of the auction house.<p>

Sirens blared in the distance. Some idiot had called the police. Chaviva muttered a stream of vulgarities under her breath then quickly kicked the man unconscious. She yelled to her guardians to free the children and escape, dashing to secure the slavers. She tied them up roughly and shoved them into a corner, then raced to free the last few children. Kozaburo was already herding the freed slaves into the back alleys. The sirens were approaching. Fumbling with a rusty key she had retrieved from a slaver, she struggled with the lock mechanism. Huge, dark hands gripped the chains and simply snapped them like thread. She looked up into the broad, kind face of the slave she had freed.

"Thought you needed help." He flashed her a grin that momentarily blinded her, then continued on to free the next slave, and the next using brute force.

"He's…insane…" Chaviva murmured in shock. Reborn merely smiled and calmly fired a small tracker which attached itself the back of his newest Sun flame guardian candidate, just in the unlikely case that he failed to catch him before the night was over. She shook her head and helped lead the children into the back alleys where Gavino and Kozaburo were waiting. As she herded the last child out, she felt an ominous chill on the back of her neck and turned to see the Vindice approaching the slavers huddled in the corner. Chains shot out and clamped around their necks. One of them whimpered. One Vindice turned towards Chaviva, hollow eyes boring into hers. She gave it a terse nod of acknowledgement and ran into the cold night. Outside, the rain had slowed to an icy drizzle. The frightened slave children huddled in a circle, staring at them with curiosity and suspicion. Something that should have occurred to her long before now hit her full force.

"What the hell are we going to do with the children?" She massaged her temples, musing over this new problem. A heavy hand clamped onto the shoulder without Reborn. Automatically she jerked away and held one hand out defensively, the other going to her container of pills. Kozaburo had already drawn his sword, Gavino his maces.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's just me!" It was the huge African slave. He backed up hurriedly, hands in the air. Chaviva lowered her arm slowly. "I just wanted to come and thank you guys, for saving me. And to tell you I know a place to take those kids."

"Oh? Where?"

"It's an orphanage, not far from here. I'll take them there, so you can leave them in my care. I know these alleys well, we won't get caught." Chaviva eyed him. It was unlikely a fellow slave would sell out the children.

"Okay. Go ahead." As he turned to gather the children, Chaviva walked over to Gavino and tugged him down.

"Follow him. Just in case." He gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

"Hey. You." Everyone turned towards Reborn. "What's your name?" He gestured towards the African.

"Me? They call me Arun." His smile was as bright as the sun he was named for.

"Hmm…how coincidental. Arun, how does working with us sound to you?"

His brow furrowed. "Working to free slaves?"

"It's a little more diverse than that." Chaviva rolled her eyes at the major understatement.

He grinned. "I guess its fine with me then. Besides, I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Good. Then I officially declare you the Guardian of the Sun flame. Come to this address tomorrow." He handed over a small slip of paper. For a moment his tiny hand was dwarfed in Arun's huge ones. "Bring anything of value with you. You might be in for a long stay."

"Got it."

A/N: It's really been a long time huh! Sorry competition season and exams just ended so! I'M FINALLY FREE FOR A BIT. A BIT. I'm not sure if anyone reads this anymore but I hope more people will soon :X It's kinda slow moving because the whole thing's probably going to take over a 100 chapters to bring out the whole plot. It's a freaking novel I tell you. Just a little note, this story proceeds assuming the Representative War(and any subsequent events) never occurred. I kind of conceptualised it before that arc started, so… I hope you enjoy nonetheless!


	13. Chapter 13

Chaviva rubbed bleary eyes and stared at the curly mass of dark blond hair before her uncomprehendingly. The head of hair currently belonged to a full grown French man, undoubtedly also some form of Mafia or another, snivelling at her feet at the ungodly hour of three in the morning. She turned to stare pointedly at Reborn, still snoring peacefully in his hammock suspended between two bookshelves. Deeply annoyed, she resigned herself to dealing with him alone and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"And you said your name was?" She could not stop the irritation from colouring her tone.

"Toulouse. And you have to take me in. My grandfather kicked me out of the family mansion, saying I was a good for nothing. But if you take me as your guardian, I will regain my honour! And be able to go back home." Here, at the thought of home, he began to bawl again. Chaviva massaged her temples. Actually, she noted, he would be a rather attractive man if he had not been sobbing from the moment she met him. He had rather well-defined features, and the greenest eyes she had ever seen. Except she was probably going insane, thinking about that when the obvious problem was how she could get rid of him.

"Alright. Listen here, Too… Too what? Too tight?"

"Toulouse." He somehow managed to look extremely offended while sniffling pathetically.

"Yeah, Toulouse. I'm really sorry and your family has been really harsh and all, but I'm not even sure what this whole Guardian mess is about. I don't even know you! Besides, I'm not the one who calls the shots, he is." She jerked her head in the Reborn's direction. His expression brightened.

"Right, I'll go ask him then!" Before she could stop him, he had brushed past her and was making a beeline for Reborn. Chaviva barely had time to curse, duck out of the room and slam the door behind her before a muffled explosion shook the entire floor. She took two calming breaths, before opening the door to assess the damage. Surprisingly, the room was mostly intact and there was none of the usual smoke involved in explosives. Except that every glass object in the room, including her windows, had been shattered, and Toulouse had stopped snivelling purely because he was unconscious on the floor. Reborn, guessing what she was thinking, explained.

"I stole some ultrasonic bombs from Verde. They pass through most objects safely, except for glass, sadly, and human beings of course. You could ask how I escaped unscathed, but I doubt that's your greatest concern now. You should probably be removing the rude moron who just woke me from my sleep." He hopped back up to his hammock nimbly, and was about to lie back down when Toulouse shot up abruptly, blinking in confusion. For a moment, she was just shocked that he was conscious so soon. Then all hell broke loose as he spotted Reborn, gave an enraged yell and charged at him for the second time.

Even as Leon scampered down Reborn's arm, Chaviva screamed, "Don't shoot him!" and found Toulouse unconscious for the second time that night, knocked out by a giant hammer. "Or give him concussion," she muttered under her breath.

Reborn shrugged dispassionately. "Too late for that." He yawned widely and flopped back down in his hammock. "Since that's taken care of, I'll just—" Not bothering to finish the sentence, he fell asleep. _Should have known. _Chaviva looked disgustedly at the collapsed heap on the floor. Sighing, she grabbed his ankles and attempted to drag him out of her room. He was surprisingly heavy, for all his gangly build. Grunting with exertion, she heaved with all her considerable strength. Toulouse slid an inch or two, then groaned and flopped over onto his belly, his foot kicking out with the motion. It caught her in the sternum, sending her stumbling to the floor, winded. Thoroughly annoyed now, Chaviva decided to leave him on the ground for the night and deal with the problem in the morning. Hopefully he would stay out cold for as long as possible. She tossed a light blanket over him then crawled wearily beneath her covers again and was unconscious in seconds.

When she awoke with a pounding headache, sunlight was filtering bright through the window. She groaned and rolled over to stare into the annoyingly cheerful features of Toulouse.

"Good morning! Thank you for letting me stay for the night! That must mean you take me as your Guardian too, right? Hooray! Thank you boss!"

"Whoa, logic flow?" Cradling her aching head in her hands, she sighed. "Reborn, some help here. Please."

Already fully dressed, the hitman leapt down from his perch to land heavily on Toulouse's head, causing him to crash to the floor.

"Out, nuisance. Unless you have anything to prove you are worthy of being a Guardian."

"P-prove?" Toulouse sniffled. "No one has ever asked me to prove anything before!" He paused for a moment, then grinned widely. "Oh I know! Grandpa told me how!" Scampering over to a wall socket, he produced a screwdriver from his pocket and unscrewed the plastic cover. Then he plunged two fingers into his mouth.

"Oh, no. He's going to—" Fearing for the in-house idiot's life, Chaviva started forward then cringed as he plunged his fingers into the sockets and was promptly electrocuted with a screech. "Oh my God, Reborn, DO SOMETHING!" She roared, but then rectified the problem herself by grabbing a cloth bag and swinging it at him to knock him away. Toulouse lay twitching and smoking on the floor for a while, then groaned and sat up. His eyes were mildly unfocused, his hair standing on end and his twitching lips betrayed the fact that he was about to cry, but he forced out a cheery croak.

"I proved myself, right?" Chaviva was still shell-shocked in amazement of the fact that he was still alive. Reborn smiled, reminiscing.

"Well, looks like you got the basics. I guess…you could fill the vacancy of Thunder Guardian." Chaviva did not have the chance to even attempt to protest and Toulouse leapt off the ground excitedly on unstable legs and collapsed straight into her, knocking her to the floor.

"Thank you! I won't fail you, boss!" He sat up, grinning, looking for all the world like an innocent little puppy. An insane one. "So when is the initiation procedure?"

"Initiation…"She stared blankly at Reborn. She did not even want to begin to imagine the mad plans that were brewing behind that mysterious smile.

"Ah, not so soon. First you must pass a test. All of the current Guardians, and you, Chaviva."

"A…test?" She smiled weakly. The overexcited boy was already begging Reborn for the details. She smiled wryly. Whatever it was, she doubted it would surprise her.

Oh, she had guessed so wrong. Trussed up in a tight fitting dress of russet silk, she found herself at some Vongola co-sponsored event. Her guardians were all dressed elegantly as well, while Reborn wore his usual ensemble of black suit jacket and pants. _How could one of Reborn's crazy tests occur here?_ The Victorian styled-estate, belonging to one of their long-time associates, the Cavallone family, sprawled over expansive grounds, including a large lake, an acre of wild forest and a small mountain. The ballroom she was in easily housed the seven hundred strong crowd, without making the guests feel cramped. And apparently Vongola was even wealthier than the Cavallones. Shuddering at the thought, she crossed over to the dessert table, selecting a particularly delectable looking strawberry-flavoured treat.

Her fingers brushed against a pale, long-fingered hand as they reached for the same one at the same time. She looked up into the iciest, palest blue eyes she had ever seen. The man glared at her from beneath a fringe of white blonde hair. The new head of Cavallone, Derek, had been described as a blonde haired blue eyed young man. Perhaps this intimidating man was Derek Cavallone. He was, after all, the youngest boss dubbed a monster who had defeated practically an army for the sake of his Famiglia. Such a monster would probably carry a frightening air.

Reborn had instructed her to greet the new boss, as the two families had had a long history of friendship and collaboration. He had said if she mentioned she was from Vongola, she was sure to be treated with warmth. Clearing her throat, she tried to smile into those cold eyes. "Hello, um, I am Chaviva of the Vongola Family, one of the successor candidates." She offered a hand tentatively, stretching it out to him. He looked at her with some form of disgust.

"And I would waste time speaking to you because?" He raised an arrogant brow, stepping away from her hand as if it offended him. Annoyance flooded her. So Cavallone was a prick, after all. She should try to remain cordial.

Forcing another smile, she dropped her volume and continued. "I'm sure my…friend Reborn had contacted you today. The, uh, secret training? The test for my Famiglia?" He rolled his eyes.

"If you wanted some time alone with me, you're not getting it. Many women have tried and failed. Go and flirt with someone else. No, rather, do the world a favour and get some practice first. Preferably far out of my sight. You nauseate me." Fury burned in her gut. She stomped forward, skirting the dessert table and grabbed the guy by the wrist.

"Listen here, Derek Cavallone. I was being perfectly civil and you know full well—" The room tilted sideways and she found herself pinned to the floor, a metal bar of sorts pressed to her throat.

"Firstly, I am not Derek Cavallone. Secondly, I do not believe grabbing me with your dirty hands is considered civil behaviour and thirdly, this has gone too far for a sexual advancement." _Sexual advancement!_ _The nerve!_ She would have sputtered in indignation had she not already been struggling to breathe against the cold steel. Spots were gathering before her eyes when suddenly the pressure disappeared. Reborn stood before her, one tiny hand placed seemingly gently on the man's wrist. The weapon, which she now recognized as a tonfa, clattered to the floor. She rubbed her bruised neck gingerly. Surprisingly enough, the man did not appear intimidated by Reborn. Rather, a light of anticipation had bloomed in his otherwise deadly cold eyes.

A small audience had already gathered to observe the commotion, though none seemed to think it strange, the party being held by the Mafia and all.

"How dare you? I am Duke Alistair Vaughn, ambassador from Britain. Do you really associate with such crass, underclass people, Cavallone?" Chaviva followed his gaze to a man with sunny, straw-coloured hair and equally cheery blue eyes. He looked like an overgrown boy, certainly not a boss. However the way the crowd shifted respectfully to let him through was proof enough—he was the boss of Cavallone.

"Vongola." He nodded in acknowledgement at Chaviva, then turned to appease Alistair. "Come now, Alistair. She's a successor candidate for the Vongola family. Try to be a little kinder, hm?" The Duke shrugged off the hand Derek placed on his shoulder and stalked off to another corner of the ballroom. Derek laughed lightly and shrugged helplessly. "I guess it just isn't in his nature, huh? So, young Vongola. What is your name?" Cobalt blue eyes glowed with friendly amusement.

"Chaviva." She smiled back and shook the proffered hand. "So you're the real Derek Cavallone. I've heard so much about you from Reborn." As he turned to the diminutive tutor, the strapping young man seemed to shrink slightly.

"Uh, hi, Reborn. Haven't seen you around for, uh, some time, eh?" If she hadn't known better, Chaviva would have said Derek was positively terrified.

"Good evening, Derek. I trust you've made the preparations for our little training exercise." Reborn's smile was characteristically evil.

"T-t-training? I didn't hear about any training." He was definitely stuttering now.

Reborn only continued to smile. "I didn't know I raised liars as students."

"Yes I've prepared everything, it's in the backyard. Now I have some, uh, important affairs to attend to. Bye, Reborn!" Derek practically sprinted out of the hall, but not before Reborn called after, disgustingly cheerful.

"I'm expecting to see you there too!" I watched as Derek tripped over his own feet, scrambled up and straight into a wall before stumbling out of the hall.

The "backyard" was in truth an acre of forest wrapped around a huge lake. They gathered at the edge of the forest, awaiting instructions from Reborn.

"This is the famous Forest of Trial, hellish training centre of the Cavallones. Every boss has survived for at least a full week within the boundaries of this forest, dropped off at the centre, where the Cavallone Lake is, and left to find his way out alone. Thus, as befitting the fact that you guys are going in as a Famiglia, I expect you to find your way to the lake from here and back again. I have placed something you must retrieve near the lake. So, if you're all set, your supplies are over there, and you are free to begin. There is no time limit, but the longer you spend…" His smirk stretched " let's just say it's not too safe in there." Chaviva shuddered.

"You're not coming Reborn?"

"Why would I? I'm not the one undergoing training. I'll spend some time with my old student. Reviewing his progress." He hopped and landed none too lightly on Derek's shoulder, causing the man to wince.

Chaviva opened her mouth to protest, then decided against it and resignedly motioned her friends over to lift the packs. She looped an arm around the shoulder strap and heaved. The pack refused to budge. Frowning, she wrapped both hands around the strap and tugged again. The pack lifted half-heartedly off the ground then thumped back down again. Eyes blazing with determination, she hefted the pack up with an almighty effort, and settled it onto her bent knee before wrestling the heavy affair onto her shoulders, panting with exertion.

Gavino and Kozaburo shouldered their packs with minimal effort, while Toulouse squirmed around on the floor attempting to stand up with the pack strapped on. Arun sighed, bent over and unbuckled the pack from Toulouse before swinging it onto his other shoulder as if it weighed only a feather. The huge man turned to her, two packs on his back, and asked if she needed help with hers. Pride had her shaking her head and trudging, already aching back hunched against the weight, towards the treeline.

"We'll see you in a while!" Reborn called cheerfully, waving at them. Beside him, Derek mouthed _good luck, really._

Chaviva knew she would need it.

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><p>AN: Haha sorry guys its been a really long time! I promise you I am incredibly encouraged by any review I get T.T And I got a reader! *celebrates*Love yall

It's exam period now, so I'm going through my own private hell. After it's over, I'll churn out the next chapter. Look forward to the insane training camp and recruitment of Alistair :)) I hope you'll find it interesting, at least

See you around! Yes I'm slightly high and incoherent now


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